


How to Dismantle A Bomb

by MythicallySnappy



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Bomb Defusal, Kissing, M/M, No Context Whatsoever, T for Tension, some strong language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-28
Packaged: 2018-09-02 22:19:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8685499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicallySnappy/pseuds/MythicallySnappy
Summary: Link’s shaking and Rhett’s sweating and if they don’t act fast the consequences could be catastrophic.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little quickie based around a flash of inspiration from [GMMore 1032](https://youtu.be/lDgTqx-jz8Q).
> 
>   
>   
> [[img](http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/129548/why-would-clipping-a-wire-cause-a-bomb-to-explode/129657)]

     “I’m trying to _help,_ man!” Link snaps. His hair is matted to his forehead with sweat.  
     “Well you’re not,” Rhett replies. He’s stressed too, shoulders tense and palms so slick that he can barely keep a solid grip on the wire cutters. He takes a deep breath and tries not to glance at the steadily ticking timer. “Okay. Okay, next step.” He lets out a slow exhale while internally kicking himself for not majoring in electrical engineering.

     The bomb is about the size of his college boom box, but this definitely isn’t the type of box that he wants going boom. Not here, not today. Not in this scenario, while Link’s trapped in the same room as he is. He sees Link’s adam’s apple plunge down his neck out of the corner of his eye and he has to remind himself not to get distracted.

     The LED panel is connected to five wires. Blue, blue, red, yellow, black. The wires funnel into a transformer and there’s a mechanism that he’s certain will trigger the fuse and there’s a canister filled with shrapnel that’ll shred them both to smithereens.

     “Four minutes, thirty-eight seconds,” Link mumbles.  
     “I _know,_ okay?”  
     “Alright, alright.”

     Link’s hands are trembling and Rhett has to wrap his hand around Link’s wrist to steady him.  
     “Keep it _still,_ man, c’mon.”  
     “I’m _trying,_ Rhett, Jesus.” Rhett can tell he’s trying to keep his cool, but his voice catching in his throat gives him away. He’s scared. He’s _terrified._ And Rhett can’t blame him for a second. He’d be terrified, too, if he could think about anything but the green glow of the LED timer and Link’s warm skin under his hand.  
     “Just— just breathe deep, Link.”

     He thinks he can eliminate the black wire, he sees that it terminates at a diode, but there’s a rubber barrier between the anode and the cathode. It’s a fake-out. A red herring. He swallows hard and cuts the black wire.

     Nothing happens. No news is good news.

     “The red one— that one goes into the fuse,” Link offers. His pupils are blown as big as Rhett has ever seen them, irises almost swallowed up completely and the edges of the lenses of his glasses are foggy. He’s generating enough steam to power a locomotive.

     But he’s right. If he cuts the red wire, it’ll detonate the bomb. So he leaves it be.

     “Yeah,” Rhett mumbles. “Yeah, you’re right.”

     So that’s two wires down. Three to go. Blue, blue, yellow.

     “Two minutes, twelve seconds, Rhett.” Link is approaching full panic mode. Rhett doesn’t have time to notice the tears pooling in the corners of Link’s eyes or the tremor in his voice. He ignores it all.

     The yellow wire leads to the ticking timer. One minute, fifty-eight seconds. Fuck. _Fuck._ He doesn’t know if stopping the LED timer will stop the internal countdown of the bomb or just turn off the screen. He needs to know how much time he’s got. He leaves the yellow wire.

     The two blue wires lead into the canister. There’s nothing that externally differentiates them from one another. But one wire has got to stop this thing, and the other will break the circuit and probably set the damn thing off too.

     “I— I don’t know what to do, Link,” Rhett admits. His heart is pounding so hard in his throat that he can barely breathe around it. “I don’t know which one it is.” Link’s eyes dart along the wires; lips forming silently around his internal dialogue.  
     “They both— they’re both the same,” Link sputters, pained. He steels his jaw and he stares Rhett down, hard and intense. “You just gotta cut one.”

     Forty-six seconds.

     “But I don’t wanna set it off!” Rhett yells. Time is running out.  
     “It’ll set _itself_ off if you don’t do anything about it, Rhett! Cut one!”

     Link’s right. He’s just gotta do it. Their breath hanging low in the little room is stifling. Smothering. Suffocating.

     “I love you, Link,” Rhett says. And he means it.  
     “Yeah, Rhett. I love you too.” The tears pooling in the corners of Link’s eyes break their barrier and come spilling down his cheeks. Rhett doesn’t have time to think twice about it, so he leans toward him and crushes his lips against Link’s. It’s fast, it’s bruising, and it’s the best goodbye that he can muster.

     Two blue wires. Right for Rhett, and Left for Link. He knows who he’d save every time. Four seconds. He cuts the left wire.

     The timer stops. Four. Three. Two. One.

     Nothing. Nothing.

     Rhett’s legs turn to jelly underneath him and he crumples onto the floor. He’s crying, he can hear Link crying on the ground beside him and they’re _alive._ They’re alive and breathing and the bomb sits dismantled on the table above them. He can’t see anything through his tears but he can feel Link’s hand clap around his shoulder blade and he’s pulled forward, right into Link’s warm chest. He wraps his arms around Link’s little waist and he sobs into his shoulder. Link’s here. Link’s still here and Link’s alive and Rhett can’t pull him close enough. Link’s whole body is trembling but Rhett thinks, just for a second, that if he holds him tight enough he can squeeze all the fear and panic out of his wiry body.

     “You— you did it, Rhett,” Link chokes out. “We’re alive.” He pulls back and his tears glisten on his eyelashes. He takes a stilted breath and the smile on his face falters just a little.  
     “You helped,” Rhett says, and he’s not being facetious. He feels embarrassment well up inside of him and he’s certain that he’s turning about as red as a cherry tomato. This time there isn’t a timer steadily counting down, down, down, and he’s got all the time in the world. He leans in to kiss Link again. It’s soft, it’s gentle, and Link’s tongue is warm and wet against his own.

     They made it. They’re alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> As always, your questions, comments, and kudos are the things that keep my timer ticking. ;D
> 
> You can find me on tumblr [@ratchetrhink](http://ratchetrhink.tumblr.com)!


End file.
